A Devil's Instinct
by deathbyhugs
Summary: There was no hope, no options left. Not for Dante, not now. Devil May Cry had only been up and running for a total of four weeks and already he was in a mess. As a force so incredibly powerful threatens his life, will Dante ever survive? DxL
1. The Devil's instinct

Author's note: My first attempt at a Devil May Cry story, oh boy. This story takes place a wee bit before the first Devil May Cry and so I've decided to do the normal thing I do and make up my own plot line. Mu hu ha ha ha. Anyways, leave a comment before you go, A.K.A review, and if you so desire, I may continue this story. Here we go.

* * *

**A Devil's instinct**

**The Devil's instinct **

* * *

_'During the time when the star of Bethlehem bathed the earth with its radiance, demons and monsters rages deep in the bowels of Hell. One of these monsters declared himself King of the Demon World, and began to covet the world of humans. It was then that a fearless demon swordsman named Sparda appeared. Sparda cut down armies of hell and defeated the Demon King, sealing him into oblivion. _

_Although Sparda was himself a demon, his desire to experience the pain and joy of a human soul turned him against the demons. After many blood battles, he departed hell to reside in the human world. He even married a human woman who bore his seed._

_And so, after two thousand years past, the cursed Demon King was destined to reclaim his powers and return to the human world. Also destined is the battle the Demon King and the half demon son of Sparda ...'_

_-Excerpted from the forbidden library texts of the Vatican "Demon World History"._

_(Date unknown) _

* * *

The red neon light flashing irritatingly outside was the only thing that shed light into the inhabitants of his office. In one corner several white boxes, all containing the same word, most in red print of 'pizza', were stacked half heartedly to form a sloppy tower. Dried and crusted pieces of cheese clung to the white cardboard like glue and some pieces had even fallen to the ground, where they remained until they were either kicked away or crumbled into dust.

A polished drum set stood off to the side, though not forgotten, surrounded by piles of the same cardboard pizza boxes and forgotten pieces of paper. Almost empty and already losing it's maple polish, a medium desk stood on four wooden legs, abandoned for the moment. There were a couple pictures, however, and a trashed piece of paper that showed the outside of the building and the bold words "Devil May Cry" underneath it.

In here the air was thick and humid. It was almost possible to taste the smell of delivered pizza, so much that it would be too much to bare. There were a set of windows surrounding the main entrance, half bent and broken curtains covering them, but not doing as good of a job as they should have been. Away from everything else, but still surrounded with forgotten cardboard boxes, was a sofa, dark in color. But unlike everything else, it was occupied.

He took another bite of his half eaten slice of pizza, chewing slowly on the tough dough for a moment, then swallowed it instantly. He often wondered why he never stopped eating his most desired food, but he kept on eating it and knew he would probably never stop. This piece was distasteful, like it hadn't been fully cooked and there was an unwanted stale taste to it. So, in turn, he reached beside the sofa and withdrew another piece from inside, carelessly tossing the no longer desired one back where it came from.

It hadn't been that long since he had gone into business. His office was fairly new, bought at a cheap price because it had a few leaks in the ceiling and the heating wasn't all that shabby, but it did have a roof. Only four weeks since starting up, he figured, and there was already a mess.

Oh well.

Dante brushed several strands of his hair out of his tired eyes. He was hoping to catch some shut eye but the phone had been ringing constantly and there was no time to rest. Hell, most of the phone calls were the wrong number and that had only bothered him further, up to the point where he went up to the damned thing and pulled out the cord that connected it to the wall, only to put it back a half an hour later.

Mumbling a slur of curses, the demon slayer rose from his slouched position on the worn furniture, finished off the last piece of pizza in the box, and stood upright. He stretched momentarily, felt his muscles shift as he moved, and let his arms fall limply to his side.

What was worse than the phone ringing non stop was the awful hangover that he was suffering greatly from. Last night was nothing but a blur of flashing lights and the burning sensation in his stomach when the alcohol was first swallowed. His head felt like a boulder, no, a ticking time bomb, ready to explode if pushed or pulled the wrong way.

"Talk about over doing it," Dante groaned as he staggered over a clutter of emptied beer bottles, nearly falling face first into the hardwood flooring underneath his feet. Maybe the alcohol hadn't worn off after all...

Trying hard to balance himself, Dante made for the bathroom, unsure if he would make it or not, shirtless and reeking of booze and smoke. When his feet, still protected by his brown leather boots, touched the tiled floor, he went straight for the shower and pulled back on the white stained curtains. Turning the crystal knobs, nothing but cheap plastic with a handwritten "C" on the right and "H" on the left, the demon slayer waited until the temperature of the water was exactly how he wanted it, extremely cold, and jumped in after enduring a great deal of trouble trying to get his boots off without falling backwards.

The water hit his exhausted face and felt like small pinpricks, something close to sharp needles hitting bare skin, and watched through half lidded eyes as they bounced off and fell into the small whirlpool under his feet. The loud sound of the water seemed to drown out all the thoughts that circulated inside his mind, allowing him to experience relaxation. Dante was not granted the chance to do that since he opened his own business.

Yes, life was grand. Grand indeed.

After several minutes of mindlessly watching the water, more out of boredom than fascination, Dante stepped out of the shower, turning off the water. Like hell he'd be paying that big of a water bill, the cost of electricity was bad enough. Bloody rip off, that's what it was.

When his feet touched the tiles underneath, Dante soon found himself in a jumble of towels and discarded clothing, having slipped since he was sopping wet. But he soon recovered from his nice trip to the very 'clean' bathroom floor and cursed under his breath for what had to be the hundredth time today when the annoying, blaring ring of the phone echoed loudly in his ears.

He wouldn't be drinking for a while now. He hated having hang overs, especially now that he was constantly in need of.

Quickly dressing himself and grabbing a stray towel, Dante staggered out of the bathroom as fast as he could muster and reached for the phone on his desk, placing the towel over his head so it would not get in his way, though it probably would on his head, and picked up the oddly light contraption.

"Devil May Cry," he answered, caring not if he sounded professional or not. Hell, he really didn't want to be professional sounding anyways.

Dante used his free hand to swipe the towel off his head and sat in the worn chair behind his desk, kicking his feet over the surface of it. He then realized that he had forgotten his boots, but the sharp voice on the other end cut off any train of though concerning them.

"I require your assistance, greatly. Follow these directions and I'll give you your pay when it's completed."

"Whoa, hold on there big fella. Now what exactly do you need done anyways?"

"Head towards the large insurance building about two miles from your office and you should find-"

"Hey buddy," Dante cut off the gruff sounding man on the other line, "First off, I'd like to know what I'm getting into. A guy has to be prepared, you know?"

There was a long pause before the man answered, giving Dante the information he asked for, though some parts were missing. But something didn't sound all that right in the way their conversation had gone and Dante had long since decided to go with what his instincts told him.

This wasn't going to be no ordinary walk in the park.


	2. Enter the darkness

Author's note: Couldn't decide if I was going to leave the story the way it was, or continue it, but I am and I will. I'd like to give a HUGE thanks to those of you who were kind enough to review, and of course, a super thanks to people who actually read this. I'm quite aware that DMC stories don't get read that much, but nevertheless I'm a writing freak and I'll keep on writing. So alas, here is the second chapter!

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**A Devil's Instinct**

**Enter the darkness

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**

_'The world was born of darkness._

_Unending darkness, a crumble of chaos. But to that primordial existence there came a ray of light. The universe was eventually split in two._

_The darkness became the realm of demons... and the light became the domain of mortals. These two worlds existed together for what seemed like an eternity. But one day the Lord of the Dark World said:_

"_These realms were once untied, so why not rule them as one?"_

_From that era forward, the dark fought to control the light, and the light struggled to defy the dark...'_

_-Source unknown.

* * *

_

The night was calm.

Several clouds, all of which were wisped in the air to form almost see through sheets of illuminated pearly white, moved as if in caution towards the brightly displayed moon. For those under its cooling eerie rays, it felt like being shrouded in crisp mountain water; pure and cold. But the moon was also a pleasant thing to see. It wasn't very often that it got the chance to seep through the smog many buildings and vehicles created. The pollution was absurd.

Nobody wandered the streets, out of fear than anything else. The occasional _hum_ of passing traffic would fill the air momentarily, only to fade into the ear-splitting silence that had wrapped itself around anything and everyone that inhabited the city.

However, there was someone walking the deserted streets. Nobody would ever question his motives, they saw no reason for it. This man was different from the rest. Not only was he single handedly out at this time of night, but he had one trait that separated him from the mortals of this place.

He carried demon blood.

A gentle wind formed as thick walls of fog began to arise. Not only was it _his_ time to be about, but other worldly creatures as well. And what perfect timing it was too. The fog was an excellent weapon to use against the weak humans for it cloaked their appearance, yet it could not mask the iridescent glow of crimson which were the only indication that they possessed eyes.

The ends of his jacket flapped in the wind as it began to pick up, now swaying his hair involuntarily from side to side, thick locks of hair getting in his line of vision. Strapped firmly to his back, the deadly weapons he carried around, Ebony and Ivory, remained holstered as of now. But he did have another weapon, oh yes. It was a deadly blade, from his father that he had used quite often, but he had never managed to release its true power.

Dante stood in a rather small and secluded back alley, looking up at an old and probably abandoned apartment complex. The windows were intact, not a chip or hole in any of them. It was painted black, graffiti noticeable at every spot that was within reach of the ground. Several flights of stairs snaked along the side of it, as if they were about to collapse at any given moment.

He had to check twice, glancing down at a crumpled piece of paper he had torn out of a magazine, noting that his hand writing wasn't as good as he thought it to be. But then again, he hadn't exactly been in the best of condition.

The address was right. There was no denying it. Dante was surprised that the grump had even given him the damn thing. Whoever this guy was, he sure had a big crib. If he owned the entire thing of course.

Tossing the now useless paper behind his shoulder, Dante took a step forward so that he was now flesh against the wall, mere centimeters between him and the cold stone surface. Looking upwards with a lop sided grin edging at the corners of his mouth, Dante jumped, farther than any mortal could, and clung to the bottom of two metal rungs on the stairs, one gloved hand applied to each.

Then, using as little effort as possible, Dante swung forwards slightly and then back, letting go and flipping up more. He landed at the base of a new set of stairs, grinning widely. He didn't waste any time looking around and headed up the old rusty scrap metal stairs, picking up his pace so that it felt like he was going against gale force winds.

By the time he reached the top, having cheated and skipped several flights, Dante stopped to look around briefly.

He had made it to a small ledge, lined with five huge glass windows, all of which were bordered with well carved wooden frames. The glass looked ancient, dust grouping together in a preferred corner on each one. There was absolutely no door to be seen, so that left only one other solution.

He was going to make quite the grand entrance. Through the windows that is.

The sound of glass being smashed into hundreds of thousands of crystals filled the night air. Whatever ones hadn't landed inside the old apartment complex were now plummeting towards the ground below, shimmering in the crisp moonlight.

Dante shifted his head uneasily to the side as a dangerously sharp shard of glass grazed his ear, drawing blood almost immediately. He had no time to pay attention to any injuries, but concentrate on his landing.

_No worry,_ he thought, a white tiled floor appearing as the moonlight pooled in from the broken windows. Dante landed within seconds, his boots clashing with the floor underneath and his sword, Rebellion, managing to scrape the tiled surface, creating a noise that caused Dante to cringe.

"The owner better think about changing his crappy flooring," he muttered, brushing himself clean of any bothersome glass shards.

He stopped however, as deep laughter echoed all around, bouncing off the walls and already giving him a headache. Dante looked into the direction that it was coming from, spotting a ledge that was guarded by old and bent railings.

"Ah ha, looks like we've got ourself a new guest."

A shadowed figure emerged from the dark depths behind it, revealing it's horrid appearance when the moonlight pooled onto it's body. The creature, whatever it was, became surrounded by two other demons, each picking a side to stand by, wielding massive hook-like weapons.

"Sorry to ruin your party, but the fun's over." Dante straightened himself out, grasping tightly onto his dangerous sword.

The creature appeared to possess nothing but a shadow with livid eyes, one red and the other an extremely deep blue. There was, however, an awful aura that circulated around it and a smell just as bad.

"Oh my. Oh my, oh my, oh my. Looks like this one is very different from the rest." It make a sniffling noise then brought a shadow like hand towards what should have been a completely revealed face. "Could this be... the traitor's son?"

From below Dante remained quiet, bored already of the demon and wanting nothing better than to end it's useless life. But, before he could do anything, the creature continued to speak.

"The child born of Sparda and that disgraceful human wench?"

The creature didn't have any time to react as Dante quickly withdrew one of his guns, Ebony, and fired multiple rounds at the annoying abomination. Much to the disappointment of Dante, the creature faded into the darkness behind it and the two demons jumped downwards, striking at him but missing their target as well.

Dante holstered Ebony, clutching onto his sword and moving it quickly up, just as one of the hook-like weapons tried to connect with his skull. Not wanting to waste any time, Dante spun to the side and slashed outwards, striking the demon in the head, making it completely incapable of living to see another day.

The other charged forwards, trying to hit Dante in the back, but the demon slayer quickly placed his sword behind him, blocking the attack. He then moved it back in front of him, forcefully pulling the weapon away from the demon and spun around, landing it a kick to the head. Finishing it off, Dante thrust his sword into it's damaged body, then withdrew it once he was sure that he had successfully struck it's heart.

With the demons gone, Dante got his first good look at the place.

"Whoever this guy is, he sure has one sick sense of style."

Every wall was decorated with grotesque pictures, many of which featured blood bathed monsters as they battled it out to the death. There were statues as well, most owning no head. A large bookshelf stood off to the side and as Dante neared it, he found that each title contained either the word "death" or "evil".

Now that he could actually look around without being attacked, Dante studied the white titled floor. In some parts it was colored red and black, but once he thought of it, the whole mass underneath him was nothing but one bloody picture.

The sound of broken glass being crunched caught his attention immediately. Dante spun around, smirking as a person he hadn't seen in the longest time made their own grand appearance.


	3. Rabbiteen

Author note: Been a _long_ time since I've updated, eh? Well I _do_ apologize for that. Exams were basically the main reason, but that isn't a good enough excuse to be missing for so long. Besides slamming my head against the computer at my sudden lack of ideas, I've worked something out. Just a reminder though, as I stated in the first chapter (I think), this takes place before one, but after Devil May Cry three. If there are any problems with Dante's character, feel free to point them out, in fact _do_ point that out, it really helps. :Waves: HI EMO!

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**A Devil's Instinct**

**Rabbiteen

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**

(Continued from previous chapter)

_'But the nature of the man is weak and fragile. There was no way they could hope to oppose the demonic powers of those from the world of shadows..._

_Light was overwhelmed by the impenetrable darkness, and humanity prepared to meet its end._

_And then he appeared..._

_His name... was Sparda.'_

_-Source unknown

* * *

_

From the shadows he watched with disgust and bitter curiosity as the traitor's son became somewhat relaxed with the situation he was in. It wasn't supposed to be like that, but what else would he have been expecting besides an arrogant man with the lingering stench of mortality running through his blood?

After all, this _was_ Sparda's son.

He laughed despite himself, eyes closing momentarily, his deep voice ringing throughout both the area he was located in and his extremely sensitive ears. This child was nothing but a joke, a disgrace to the demon world to even carry an ounce of their blood. Utterly disgusting.

The laughing stopped and was replaced with a deathly silence, so strong that it could crush whoever was weak enough. But not him. His mismatched eyes were overthrown by wrinkled eyelids as he settled for a livid glare, anger flowing through him as cold as any mountain fed river.

He would put an end to the family bloodline of Sparda, no matter what the cost was. He had spent years and years looking for the one who reeked of the traitor, and just recently he had after a demon massacre in a near by hide out. And now was the time, it was absolutely perfect. It was time to rid the world of such an outstanding stain in the name of all demons, a pest, a _half breed._

As he neared the edge that overlooked the floor below, the wicked demon watched as Dante went completely out of view. He sneered, eyes narrowing impossibly further so that he could feel worn eyelashes brushing upon his tough skin. And with a few final seconds, the demon let a smirk rise to his face and the anger subside with a ever growing grin of malice.

_Soon,_ he thought as he retreated to the shadows again, _soon the name Sparda will forever be forgotten and his pathetic offspring as well!

* * *

_

Moonlight now pooled about everywhere. It cast shadows of the window frames onto the ground several feet below, reminding Dante of some corny horror movie he had once seen. There was no need for lighting now that the glowing white orb had risen a little further, making it possible to each and every object that inhabited the building. And that also gave away the hiding spot of a certain someone.

Dante stepped forward, sheathing his prized sword without a single glance. He dusted off his coat, a smirk still plastered on his lips, and went to make one of his many comments, but the barrel of a gun was aimed directly at his head.

"I'm trembling," he remarked sarcastically.

Dante walked closer to the gun, the smirk never leaving for one second. By the time his boots came to a stop on the dusty patch of the ground, footprints standing out behind him, Dante was now looking directly into the barrel. In a blink of an eye with speed that could only be acquired by having either severe training in combat or demonic blood, the demon slayer brought his right hand up and grabbed onto the arm that belonged to the person and twisted it backwards.

_**Bang.**_

The trigger had been pulled and a bullet hole appeared on the tiled floor, which caused it to crack and crumble in some places. It was mere inches away from Dante's leg, something he wasn't so happy about. He immediately applied enough pressure for the person to let go of their weapon and didn't even look back as it crashed to the floor.

"Nice to see you too."

A short laugh came from in front of him. Dante let go of the arm and stood at his normal height, strands of hair covering his face only to be pushed back in a laid back fashion. He withdrew Ivory and spun it around as the person grabbed for their gun, which Dante allowed, and began to twirl it as well.

They circled each other several times, weapons twirling around mindlessly. Something seemed to switch in the atmosphere for they both stopped and aimed it at one another. Dante smirked, never one to give up on the slightest thing whilst the other let a smirk of their own appear.

"Dante," a feminine voice rang out, echoing for a short time in the now silent building.

"Lady."

Lowering her weapon and holstering it, Lady turned her back, arms folded across her chest. She wore the same boots, quite worn since the last time they met. A black skirt with faint blue lines running through it was cut to match the length of the one Dante remembered her in. She wore a thin black zip up sweater that was covered by a faded black vest. Zippers and buckles were placed all over, as well as a few ammo clips, which were also attached to the waistline of her skirt. On her left leg the once withdrawn gun stayed holstered.

"So what are you doing here anyways?" She asked, back still turned.

"I could ask the same thing."

Dante holstered Ivory, spinning it to give it some effect and also because it had become a habit. He looked upwards, his eyes catching onto something above them on an unseen balcony. The sight of glowing red orbs was enough for him to withdraw both his prized guns, but Lady was already firing at with her handgun.

The bullets ricocheted off the stone ceiling above the balcony, creating a quick flash of sparks as the two collided. However, she was lucky enough to hit whatever it was once, though they hadn't the slightest clue just how fatal it was.

Lady made her way towards the overhanging ledge, content on climbing it, but Dante brushed past her, grinning, and easily jumped up to the spot where the creature had been moments ago. There were a few scratching noises as the thing was obviously fighting back, then the unmistakable sound of gunfire filled the air.

Dante emerged, dragging a low level demon with him. He tossed it down towards Lady, stiffing a small laugh when it almost landed right on top of her. She gave him a warning before checking it over for any weapons, but found none.

"This place is just crawling with bugs," Dante commented as Lady turned the demon over, getting a look at it's face. There were almost cult-like markings around the outline of it's face, but they paid no mind to it.

"You haven't seen the last of them yet," a third voice cut in, averting both Lady and Dante's attention towards the top most balcony, the one where the strange demon had appeared before. And sure enough, the same one showed up again.

"Not you again old man."

"Lowly human wench and son of the traitorous Sparda, perish in my world of hell!"

"I've heard that way too many ti-"

There was a low rumbling noise from the walls surrounding them. Within seconds it grew to the equivalent of an earthquake, forcing Lady and Dante to the ground. As deep laughter echoed throughout the building, the walls burst open in a array of plaster, brick, and cement, raining down upon the two slayers.

Pairs upon pairs of red eyes watched them hungrily. Low pitched growls could be heard as multiple demons stumbled forward, massive weapons drawn. The shaking stopped abruptly, allowing Dante and Lady to rise once again.

"_Perish!"_

Backs turned to one another, weapons drawn, the demon slayers gave one nod each and readied themselves for a close matched battle.


	4. Doppleganger

Author note: I need to stop taking such long breaks in between chapters, ne? I am terribly sorry for such a long wait and so I have pre-written another chapter so the next update will be quicker. Anyways, I want to thank everybody for reviewing, even if the updates have been slow. The people who read this as well deserve as big thanks, give yourselves a pat on the back. Here is another chapter of A Devil's Instinct, enjoy!

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**A Devil's Instinct**

**Doppleganger

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**

(Continued from previous chapter)

_'Sparda was a being from the Demon World, yet the possessor of a proud spirit._

_Sparda, having no loyalty to his kind, took up his weapons on behalf of the World of Light, wielding his sword for the sake of the weak. That sword destroyed even the Demon King. And without its king, the darkness lost its power._

_Sparda feared the return of the darkness and sealed up that world, along with his own despicable dark powers and the wicked humans who had sided with the shadows.'_

_-Source unknown

* * *

_

It was a battle of _who will go first._ Both demon slayers concentrated on the work that would need to be done, Dante standing with one knee slightly bent, Ebony and Ivory clutched comfortably in comfortably in each of his hands.

The place was at a stand still, the demons seeming to wait for Dante and Lady to make the first move. This, however, was a most welcomed invitation and the fighting was about to begin.

"Don't get yourself killed," Lady said, steadying her aim on a near by demon, squinting one eye and raising her index finger to the trigger of her gun.

"This is going to be a piece of cake."

Red glowing orbs watched them without any emotion. The only indication that there was life inside of their bodies of demon flesh was the fact that they continuously moved their weapons about. In an instant all motion stopped as Dante and Lady cut through the demons like a knife through butter.

Dante commented on the strength of the red eyed fiends, which wasn't as strong as he had hoped. A change would be nice every now and then. He twirled Ivory around flawlessly, stopping momentarily only to shoot a gaping hole through a body of a lowly demon.

Within a few seconds a breeze swept over him as the remains of the demon carried away and vanished into thin air. But for every demon that he slaughtered, there was another to take it's place. This by itself wasn't that much of a problem, but it was annoying as hell.

He bet that creep on the balcony was enjoying every second of this.

Quickly holstering his prized guns with speed no human or demon could match, Dante replaced them with his sword, swinging it in a full circle with little effort, eliminating a great number of demons.

As Dante challenged the remaining fiends, a large group of them came from above. The demon slayer simply brushed a lock of his hair away from his face and smirked. Swinging the sword that was now stained with demon blood, Dante moved it slightly in front of him then drove it into the hard tiled floor.

Stepping onto it, Dante jumped into the air before the demons could do anything and brought out Ebony and Ivory. He spun while in mid air and twisted his body so that he was looking to the floor below, applying pressure to the triggers and littering both the floor and the now cold bodies of the demons with bullets.

Dante landed expertly, multiple bullet casings sliding from underneath his boots and rolling towards the lifeless corpses surrounding him. The demon slayer admired his handy work, calmly placing the twin guns in their respectful holster and took out his infamous sword.

Now that the demons had lost some means of interest in him, Dante was allowed a short break. Not that he needed it or anything. This, however, made him wonder where Lady had wandered off to and shortly found his answer when he spotted her amidst a group of the red eyed fiends.

With practiced skill, Lady expertly shot down another batch of the annoying demons. Not only were they annoying, she thought, they were also pathetically lame. Hell, her pulse hadn't even quickened, not the slightest trace of adrenaline ran through her blood.

This was just _too_ easy.

A demon came from the side. Lady was only able to spot it from the corner of her eye, but that didn't give her enough time to react. It swung it's weapon, an over sized blade that was deathly sharp, with speed that no other demon in this room could match and aimed directly for Lady's head.

If her reflexes hadn't been as sharp as the blade of which the demon wielded, then Lady would've been unable to see another day.

She gripped her gun tightly in her hand and bent her body, flipping backwards and taking out a few demons as well. She landed in another group of the bothersome creatures and quickly ended their pathetic lives with a single bullet to each body.

Letting the empty clip in her gun fall to the tiled ground, Lady reloaded the deadly weapon with new bullets and quickly gave herself some room. She could see the demon advancing. And quick. But she wasn't going to back down and expertly aimed her gun, waiting for the abnormally fast creature to enter her line of fire.

But as Lady readied herself for a close fight, the demon swerved to the left, dodging a copper coated bullet. The young woman never lowered her gun, having learned that it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to do when one was uncertain of what was going to happen next, and jumped to the right as the sharp blade the demon carried came spinning towards her.

With a rough _thud_ Lady landed on the tiled floor, her ribs crying out once they made contact with the cold surface. Bringing her gun upwards and ignoring the pain in her ribs, Lady looked around for the demon and slowly rose to her feet.

Once again it appeared, this time right in front of her. Lady went to pull the trigger, but before she had the chance to do so, the demon had fallen to the ground after the sound of tearing flesh filled the room.

Dante neared, laughing at the serious look on Lady's face and pulled his prized sword from the midsection of the demon. It had been an easy target. After all, that thing was five times the size of him and so wide that it probably wouldn't be able to fit through a large doorway.

"What's so funny?" Lady asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"Settle down, no need to explode on me like that."

"I have my reasons..."

* * *

He watched as the remaining group of his demons wandered about the room below as if they were too cowardly to carry out their orders. 

_Fools..._

He had quite enough of playing around. Dante and that woman were going to be a rather large nuisance, but he hadn't brought the son of Sparda here to play games. It was time to turn things around for that arrogant punk, perhaps something that might work out to his advantage.

Turning away with a scowl on his face, the devious demon surrounded himself with the shadows once again. He had an idea this time, something that would, that _sure as hell better_ work out. It was going to be interesting, mostly for his part.

Oh how he wanted to see the look on that fool's face at the sight of what his new body was going to look like.

A dead end came into view. It was at the end of an extremely narrow hallway that had been decorated with horrific pictures, all of which had been framed in gold. There was no light, but the demon didn't need it to see where he was headed. To the naked human eye, or any other demon for that matter, it would appear as a simple empty wall ahead, but to him it was a door to another stretch of the mansion.

With a wave of his hand, the wall morphed into that of an open doorway. The demon stepped inside, closing himself off from the fight and entered a room that was dimly lit.

It was rather small. The ceiling hung low, patterns of multiple squares carved into it. Row upon row of bookcases stood like silent soldiers. They were only made visible by the dim light, which came from a series of candle torches.

The demon passes through several rows of the bookcases, only stopping once to pick out a book entitled _"Demon Book of Spells"_. When it seemed like he had slowed his walk, the demon turned to a small alter that was surrounded by five candles and set the book down.

Opening the ancient looking book and wincing at the amount of dust that had came from the worn pages, the demon immediately searched for the word _Transformations_. His abnormally long finger nail on his index finger rested over it and within a few short lived seconds, the correct page lay open and on it was everything the demon needed to know.

"This shall do."

In bold print there was a list of ingredients, not many, but ones that would help fulfill the spell. The demon took off into the darkness of the room, away from the burning candle torches, and returned shortly after with a grail in his hand, filled to the brim with a thick crimson liquid.

Mumbling incoherent verses that were scrawled down within the book, the demon closed his eyes and took a large sip of the potion-like drink. Before he continued, he moved into another room, the golden cup still clutched firmly in his hands, and proceeded until he came upon a mirror that stood roughly five feet tall.

Another long sip from the grail finished the rest of the liquid off. The demon, who had closed his eyes once he was standing in front of the mirror, slowly opened what had once been glowing red orbs and studied himself in the crystal like slab before him.

This was definitely a major change.

Sporting the same hair, relaxed facial expression, and identical attire, the demon was now a spitting image of not other than Dante himself.

It was time to cause some problems for the demon slayer.


	5. Caught by your own shadow

Author Note: I AM BACK!Mu hu ha ha ha ha! Thanks for the WONDERFUL reviews! Here's a new chapter, enjoy it if that's possible!

* * *

**A Devil's Instinct**

**Caught by your own shadow

* * *

**

(Continued from last chapter)

_'The grateful survivors looked up to Sparda as the hero who saved them, and they came to call him the legendary Dark Knight Sparda. He quietly reigned over the human world and continued to preserve harmony until he eventually disappeared._

_But the human spirit is weak, their memories as fleeting as morning mist. The hero who purchased their freedom with his own blood became but a legend, and over time, the legend became nothing but a fairytale...'_

_-Source unknown

* * *

_

_This is so boring, _Dante thought to himself as another demon fell to his array of weaponry. _Even my old man would find this one hundred percent boring_.

By now it seemed like the bothersome fiends were regenerating or multiplying or _something_. Their appearance was definitely _not_ welcome and, just like they seemed to every time Dante encountered them, the demons became yet another pesky nuisance he had to crush. How pathetic.

Even though it was his profession and he had encountered such low level demons thousands of times before, Dante still made it his duty to kill each and every one of them. They were easy to dispose of but there were just so _many_ of them.

Sighing out of boredom, Dante shot down another pest, his body never tiring nor showing any signs of weakening. He was glad for demon blood to be flowing through his veins but hell, he needed a break from this sometime!

"Don't get yourself killed," Lady sneered as she too felled a fair amount of demons on her own.

Currently, the stubborn woman with quite the attitude was indulging herself in the heat of a battle. She thrived for these sorts of things and not only did she improve her combat skills, she could slaughter as many demons she wanted as well. Revenge was a sweet, sweet thing.

"And you don't even bother dreaming that I will!" Dante shot back.

Finally, as if a break would never come, the seemingly never ending amount of demons began to diminish. Their numbers died down and the slayers couldn't be be happier.

"Isn't this the part where the villain shows himself?" Dante shouted up towards the balcony. He was hoping whatever that thing was had enough smarts to take a very obvious hint.

"Quit making a fool of yourself."

"And what exactly would _you_ be doing at a time like this instead, _Lady_?"

"Simple."

Moving towards a large brick wall, Lady began to search for a secret opening, if there was one to begin with. "There has to be another way out of here."

"Care to explain why the way we came into here via a set of windows, is _not_ the way out?"

Lady glanced up at the broken glass that still clung to the frames of the windows. She immediately noticed several large shadows hidden secretively away from the moonlight and glanced around both her and Dante to see if any others were hiding.

She found nothing.

"Go ahead then," she sighed.

Dante smirked one of his Dante smirks and jumped towards the windows. It was time to get out of this messed up joint. What a waste of time it had been.

Lady reloaded her gun slowly, unimpressed by how things had turned out. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot, counting the amount of time it would take Dante to discover the hidden demons.

"One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi..."

There was nothing but an eerie silence. No sign of Dante's reaction, no gunfire, nothing.

"Four Mississippi..."

"Whoa there pal!" Came Dante's voice from above. "Do you honestly think something like that you're wielding can kill me? It looks like a freakin' butter knife!"

Lady uncrossed her arms and aimed into the moonlight where several of the demons now stood above. She pulled the trigger once and stepped over the already disintegrating corpse when it landed in front of her, dead.

"Save some for me!" The demon slayer yelled at Dante. The response she received was being rained on by the once hidden demons.

Dante flipped down from the high windows and landed without a scratch beside Lady. Ebony and Ivory, already withdrawn and smelling of freshly issued gun powder, were aimed lazily at the approaching demons. But, like usual, his targeting was perfect.

"Finally! Something interesting!"

"Don't get your hopes up."

The demons advanced and it was only then that the two slayers noticed how bulky and vicious the nearing enemies really were. They did carry rather pitiful weapons; however, their brutal force and strength required them not to be heavily armed.

"Hey, you're actually worth my time," Dante grinned as he began another fight with a demon. But this one was different. The power was much more appealing.

Lady merely 'hmphed' as Dante went off with his new found fight. She killed three of the demons with three of her bullets. As she made to finish off one of the last two that has surrounded her, Lady realized that she was now up against stronger opponents. A single bullet wouldn't kill them this time.

Enjoying himself, Dante ducked under another swing the demon made at him with it's weapon. He snickered while pulling the trigger of Ebony and watched as the bullet did little to no damage at all.

"Son of a..."

The demon growled as it extended a grotesquely clawed hand towards Dante, intent on injuring him. Dante sighed and moved to the right, dodging the attack. It was about time he finished the beast off.

Dante sheathed Ebony and Ivory at the same time. He quickly pulled out his trusty sword, Rebellion, flipping it in the air momentarily before he grasped onto it and prepared for some more fun.

Both his own blade and the demon's collided, creating a short shower of sparks. Vivid red eyes bore into Dante as he pushed forwards, forcing the demon's blade away from him. Next, Dante slashed at the seething creature only to have it slash back.

"Whoo! We've got us a fighter here!"

Dante jumped into the air, above the blade and as he swung himself around in mid air, he felt the weapon the demon wielded bite sharply into the back of his right leg.

The injured man landed roughly against the wall rather ungracefully. His world spun for a few seconds but before he could do anything, the wall turned, shutting him off from the battle.

Before he had been in the moonlight and could at least see, now, Dante only had dim candle light to see by. It was obvious that he had been thrown into some sort of hidden passageway and it looked like there was nowhere else to go.

He was at a dead end, staring into another brick wall.

"Great," Dante grumbled. "Just my luck."

Despite the dizzy sensation he felt from his body healing at a rapid pace, Dante forced himself to stand up. His head ached tremendously from the sudden movement, causing the demon slayer to lean heavily against the wall that cut him off from Lady and the annoying demons.

"When I find that _thing_ or whatever it is, I am personally going to kick it's-"

The wall behind him, the one Dante had only been looking at a moment ago, began to move. Quickly, forgetting about his throbbing head, he raised Rebellion and flexed his muscles. What a ridiculous place for a fight.

The wall opened and Dante prepared to jump forward; however, just as he was about to, something materialized from behind him.

Dante whirled around, facing the wall that kept him from the moonlit room and took two steps backwards. At first he couldn't see anything and then, out of nowhere, he found himself starring into the eyes of no other than... himself.

Dante felt something strong colliding with the side of his head before everything went black.


	6. The plan

Author note: Mu ha! Another chapter! For this one I got rather distracted with finals and all but I did write it and I am updating and I am determined to see this story through to the end! However, I am not going to be near a computer for a while so there will be no updates for a couple weeks or more, but I plan to at least have a couple chapters written out. Thanks for all the awesome reviews I received and I am really sorry for such the long wait in between chapters. Here is chapter six, enjoy!

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**A Devil's Instinct**

**The plan

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**

'_According to legend, 2000 years ago, while snow was falling on a clear, freezing night on Earth, a fierce devil prince was born deep in the darkest pit of the netherworld._

_He grew rapidly. Within a short time he gained his full powers and took over the Devil Throne. His first act as ruler of all devils was to declare himself emperor of the Devil Kingdom. His next feat was an invasion of the human world._

_His plan was to conquer it and rule over both the lower and the upper realms...'_

_-From Devil World History (age unknown)

* * *

_

The first thing Dante felt as he wearily drifted back into consciousness was an almost crippling amount of pain in his head. It felt worse than any hangover he had ever experienced, _if_ he ever managed to drink himself silly. Next day pains were something Dante didn't much care for.

His eyes fluttered open with difficulty as the light from his current location flooded over the darkness from within his sleeping mind. Dante groaned as his entire body awoke at a rapid pace, flooding him over with waves of aching pain.

Dante, unlike any typical mortal, could withstand great deals of pain. He had many weapons pierce through his body, but even a half demon like himself couldn't stand the annoying pain that he was currently experiencing. He hated waking up to things like this.

"What the hell happened...?"

The room he resided in came into focus and his sore eyes adjusted well enough for him to see properly. _Of course_, Dante thought as he took in the odd furnishings around him, _there was no way any kidnapper would keep their captive in such a small place._ He remembered the seclusion of the room he had been thrown into while separating him from Lady at the same time and smirked to himself.

_So the 'napper moved his captives into a room that looked like it came out of a Dr. Seuss book._

Dante squinted at the insanely colored room. All four walls, each stretching pretty far, were painted an array of vibrant blues, yellows, and reds. The furniture- a set of couches and three arm chairs- were all the same creamy white color and not one of them appeared to be stained in any way.

Lights hung from the ceiling which was also painted in a weird fashion. Each light was covered by a silk lamp shade with gold designs stitched into them. From what Dante could see, each light was also a different color.

"It's like a freakin' circus in here," he mumbled as his eyes stung from the bright display of colors. "No wonder that _thing_ is so deranged."

Dante, always one to move on with things, decided that he had spent enough time in the funny barn and went to stand. However, upon forcing his legs straight, Dante fell face first into the cold cement floor that was colored horribly green. It didn't take him long to figure out the he had been tied up.

"Well isn't this just _wonderful_..."

Moving his arms so that it was possible to push himself back up, Dante discovered that his hands had also been bound together. _Typical_, Dante thought while rolling his eyes. _How unoriginal can this guy get?_

It seemed like the demon hunter wasn't about to get up any time soon but Dante always had a way out of any situation. And without much effort, the tied up man was sitting upright once again, leaning against one of the horribly colored walls.

Luckily, the troublesome demon had tied Dante's hands against his stomach. Quite the mistake to make, but the demon hunter couldn't be happier. So, rasing his bound hands towards his face, Dante began to chew through the somewhat thick rope that kept him prisoner.

After a few tries Dante gave up and sighed heavily. He spit out several chewed pieces of the rope and winced as small, almost invisible slivers from the rope dug into his gums. The taste of blood was extremely bitter and annoyingly evident in his mouth.

"Yuck," Dante spat as he lowered his hands back down to where they had been before he awoke.

"Trying to escape will get you nowhere."

Dante glared at the sound of the demon's voice. He stopped moving all together and checked to make sure that Ebony and Ivory were still with him but upon checking the holsters, he found absolutely no indication that they were there.

"Looking for these?"

The demon materialized out of the darkness- the only darkness which was a dark corner in the bright room- and held out before him Dante's customized handguns. But it wasn't just his lack of weaponry that Dante was pissed off about, it was how that _thing _looked _exactly_ like him. It was impossible! What a fake!

"I'm afraid my time here is rather short, but I need to inform you about my little plan," the Dante look alike sneered as it moved closer to the tied up man.

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" Dante growled as he wished that somehow he could get his guns back and kill the demon for stealing his identity. "You could _never_ be me!"

"It seems that it's working out quite well for me, actually. But, enough of this mindless rambling." The demon- the other Dante- cleared it's throat and holstered Ebony and Ivory in a duplicate of their original holsters. "There are a few things I think you should be informed of."

"Like what?"

"Just like your father," the demon scowled. "And it's because of you and your father that everything has gone wrong for demons. But I have a plan that'll reverse everything and demons will once again have the better power in this world."

Dante remained silent, preferring to glare at the mirror image of himself and picture the demon dying by Rebellion or quite possibly his own bare hands.

"I know where I can open the demon world and I know how to open it. There are a few things I need, of course, and your little fighting companion is exactly what I need."

The demon hunter hardened his glare and began to grit his teeth. _Damn these ropes and damn that son of a bitch!_

"You see, Dante, I need her blood to open that portal and who else would she follow down there but you? She'll have complete trust in me. Don't worry though, nothing bad will happen to her... yet."

"Where have I heard that before?" He said while Arkham's words from when both himself, Lady and Vergil had been in the depths of the demon tower rang through his mind.

"Oh somewhere, I'm sure. But I must go for now."

Dante struggled to get up but the ropes prevented him from doing so. He was forced back down by the inability to move and began to pry his hands apart from one another, despite the rope digging into the soft skin on his wrists and cutting it.

"One last thing. If you even think of coming after me, I won't hesitate to kill her."

And with that the demon left Dante in the warped room. Things had defiantly changed since they had arrived.


	7. Devious Demons

Author note: A big thanks to those that reviewed! Here's another chapter! Enjoy! Oh, and thanks to Foggy Brains for editing. I think she left a note here as well.

Special Visitor **Foggy Brains** says: Welcome all! Enjoy Deathbyhugs' writing! Review her nicely! She likes reviews, and it raises her will to write! So like... review her after you read! Cause reviews are like Dante! Totally awesome:)

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**A Devil's Instinct**

**Devious demons

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**

(Continued from previous chapter)

'_But a powerful devil-knight known as Sparda took pity on humans for their brief, transient lives. In fierce battle he defeated all the Devil ruler's armies and finally imprisoned the emperor in a sealed vault._

_Having achieved his victory, Sparda abandoned the Devil Kingdom to live in the human world. He married a human woman and soon fathered a half devil, half human son._

_But beware, mankind. After 2000 years, the cursed Devil Emperor will be released and will return to invade the human world once again._

_Sparda's son must be our protector!'_

_- From Devil World History (age unknown) housed in the Library of Forbidden Books

* * *

_

Dante cursed himself for falling into such a pathetic trap as the one he was currently caught in. He should've listened to his instincts before and steered clear of this place. Not only was he losing business (it wasn't like it had been up and running long anyway) by staying tied up, he was also selling Lady's life to some demented kook.

The walls of the room began to irritate Dante more then he could stand. It was if they were _mocking_ him with their bright, happy colors. Happy. The complete opposite of what he was feeling at the moment.

Making a sound similar to a growl, Dante glared at the horribly colored walls and pulled more on the tight ropes binding his wrists together. There was _no_ way he'd let that demon have his way.

"God damn these ropes!" Dante said through his clenched teeth. "I have to get out of here _now_!"

Threats meant little to Dante, and rarely did he ever take them seriously. Even though the pesky demon had promised to end Lady's life if Dante pursued them, the demon hunter could tell that the demon was bluffing.

"There has to be _something_ to get me out of here..."

_First of all_, Dante thought as he felt his skin tear from the ropes yet again, _the demon said himself that he needed Lady at the actual place before sacrificing her_. _There would be no point in murdering Lady before even reaching the demon's desired location._ Another thing that Dante could use to tell the nuisance was bluffing came in the form of a simple expression the demon had worn for no longer than a split second. Doubt. Cowards bluffed a lot, Dante knew that for sure.

The delicate skin on his wrists flared with small, sharp pinpricks of pain. Dante was beginning to detest the rope even more, hoping that it would spontaneously combust into flames before his eyes. A few more tries at pulling his hands loose ended with warm liquid pooling over his flesh.

Dante absolutely hated blood. He had read many cheap comics where half breeds like himself were depicted with demanding cravings for raw meat and flesh. He wondered how anyone could ever bring themselves to actually savor the taste of blood. Pizza was the way to go.

Speaking of pizza...

"Oh man." Dante stared down at his stomach as it growled in displeasure at a lack of food intake, or, in his case, pizza intake. "I've got to get something to eat as well, it seems..."

But, as much as he would love to order a fresh box of pizza, Dante had to get out. At the moment it seemed nearly impossible to move anywhere with the ropes. So, raising his bound hands back up to his face, the demon hunter tried once again to chew through them.

"Screw this!"

Dante gave up. He spat out a glob of blood and snickered as it stained the oddly colored floor below him. Chewing was now out of the question and just when becoming free seemed impossible, Dante noticed something very important.

He could smell the blood he had spat out as if he was stuck to his nose. Normally, such things didn't become apparent unless Dante transformed, but this time it was different. The taste of blood must've triggered something because, as the demon hunter looked around the empty room, his already heightened senses became stronger and as he flexed his hands against the rope, his strength increased.

He had released _it_ again.

His vision became a lot more crisp but it had become tinted lightly with crimson. Power surged throughout him and Dante smirked to himself as the wounds on his wrists healed within mere seconds.

"Now it's time to crash this party!"

With one quick flick of his wrist, the ropes broke and Dante was finally granted the freedom he had been itching for. He knew the power in his current state was limited so he made the best of it and broke the ropes bounding his feet together.

It was time to take some action.

The surge of power drained slowly from Dante as he walked towards Ebony and Ivory where they had been thrown by the annoying demon. It felt like some form of a family reunion to once again have possession of the custom made handguns.

Spinning Ebony on his right index finger while placing Ivory in its holster, Dante made his way across the room, constantly gagging mentally at how horrible it looked. There was something that Dante noticed; however, and that something made escaping more of a chore then anything.

There was absolutely no way out of this room. No windows, no doors, _nothing._

"Well," Dante sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "It looks like I'll have to make my own way out of here."

Lady crossed her arms in f

* * *

rustration. She had finally disposed of all the demons without much trouble and without the help of Dante. But it was Dante she was cross with.

"Where the hell have you gone off to now?" She muttered as the silence around her became irritating.

She knew the pizza loving man wouldn't just up and leave. He had a fetish for killing demons and if he was getting paid for this job, there was no way he'd miss out. But where _was_ he?

Lady couldn't wait any longer. Waiting wasn't one of her best traits anyways. She immediately found herself walking over to the massive bookshelf and just as she was about to open one of the books, something moved from behind her.

She recognized the sound of the footsteps and crossed her arms again. Maybe now they could continue on without any more problems or distractions.

"Sorry babe, I got a little caught up back there."

Lady narrowed her eyes. "Back where?"

Dante seemed to think on something. It was unlike him to actually pause while speaking, the man was always so sure of himself.

"Oh, back there," he pointed to the balcony behind them. "I found something we should go check out."

Lady turned around. She glared at Dante before leaning against the bookshelf, her arms still crossed.

"And what is it that you found?"

"You'll have to see for yourself." Dante said as he noticed suspicion dancing in Lady's eyes. "What? Are you too chicken to see for yourself?"

Lady sighed. "Fine, let's go."

"It's this way." Dante jumped up to the balcony. "Follow me."

But Lady remained leaning against the bookshelf. She closed her eyes while her arms remained crossed.

Something wasn't right about Dante.

"Are you coming or what?" Came the demon hunter's voice from above.

"I'm coming!"

Pushing herself off the bookshelf, Lady made her way up to the balcony, all the while preparing herself for the worst.


	8. Of all things to backfire

Author babble: Deathbyhugs presents an all new chapter of A Devil's Instinct! Now with twice as many words and much longer! It'll change the face of this story. An actual chapter that comes with many wicked thoughts, something that is quite a change from such short little chapters! Enjoy the new installment and those of you who reviewed, pat yourselves on the back! Oh, and a big thanks to Cyram for editing this chapter!

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**A Devil's Instinct**

**Of all things to backfire

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**

'_Countless men, possessed by the powers of the underworld, worshiped the power of the demons. In their desire to possess it for their own, they erected a great tower - a tower to join the world of demons and the world of men._

_And these men, possessed by demonic power, climbed it on a journey to make their way to the world of demons._

_There has never been a dead more evil than this...'_

_- Taken from the Demon Sword Texts (date unknown) Vatican Library Restricted Text Housing

* * *

_

Things were going smoothly. Everything was going according to plan and he mentally laughed at the stupidity of human kind. Sure, there was the fact that Lady did not believe him (it was quite evident in her eyes) and how she was on the look out for danger constantly (something that could ruin his plans if he wasn't careful) but besides Lady, thing would definitely go his way.

This, in turn, earned him the right to feel cocky and he was sure behaving that way. Lady didn't seem to care so he assumed that was how Dante acted on a normal basis. Perfect.

A smirk graced his lips. This was genius, absolutely wonderful. Revenge was sweet and soon he would be able to taste it. Sparda's name would forever be erased from this world and he would be famous for doing it. Genius indeed.

Now there were only a few more steps left in his master plan. Managing to lure Lady into his trap would be the hardest part; he realized that a long time ago. That woman was as stubborn as they came. The second part, the final part (also his favorite) was to shed her blood and rid her from the world of the living. He just hoped that Sparda's son kept out of it and listened to what he had said. In the back of his mind he doubted that.

Stubborn fools, the both of them. But fools were easy to deal away with after all. How wonderful.

He snapped out of his thoughts as he received a strange look from no other than Lady herself. He quickly jerked into a calm facade and gave her a lop-sided smile. Oh how lovely it would be to see her expression after finally spilling her blood. It was going to be a priceless, picture-perfect moment. He was dying to see it.

It wouldn't be long now!

"What's your problem?" Lady snapped. "Quit staring at me!"

Once again he found himself being forced out of an almost dream like daze. He should probably stop that, it would make Lady question him and he _really_ didn't need to be questioned. In turn to Lady's remarks, he managed to return the glare she was giving him and smirk one of his Dante smirks.

_How idiotic,_ he thought, _you can't even see through my disguise. I suppose I shouldn't have expected you to. You are a human after all. One stupid, stupid human._

"I was not staring at _you_," he lied. "I would never _stare_ at an _idiot_ such as yourself." Proud at his own snappish remark, the smirk grew even more on his lips.

"I thought we had agreed that _you_ were the _idiot_..."

Lady smirked this time, proud that she had made Dante look completely dumbfounded and somewhat hurt. She loved doing this.

"Right..."

"Oh come on, I'm the brains here, you're the fool. Now, show me where this place is before that annoying demon appears again."

He mentally cursed the female demon hunter. Him? Annoying? Him, thought so lowly of? It was hard to suppress the growl that had risen in the back of his throat. _No,_ he thought,_ you're the fool, sweetheart and you'll regret ever calling me that. Oh, you'll _really_ regret it._

"Hey Dante?" Lady asked, bringing him out of his thoughts _again_. "Where is that demon anyways?"

Shit. He hadn't thought of an answer for that one beforehand. Lady was proving to be quite a bother. She was too smart. What he needed was a good lie, but found that he was lacking one.

"I don't know..." He didn't know what else to say. _He's right in front of you, staring at you, waiting for you to stop asking questions and to shut the hell up!_ "Maybe he left us for dead?"

"I doubt that. Demons won't leave until they _know_ that their prey is dead. Think logically, Dante. He could be anywhere by now."

He didn't like the way she suddenly looked at him with a great amount of suspicion. It was like she was _trying_ to make him slip, to say something that Dante would never say. He needed to be extra careful now. She had the potential to ruin everything.

"He could be plotting something somewhere else. We should really hurry and get to that place just in case he shows up without warning."

"What's so special about this place anyways?" Lady narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side. She was catching on quickly. Damn her fast thinking. Damn it to hell.

"There...is..something that will be of great interest to you, I'm sure."

"Hm. Doesn't sound very interesting if you ask me."

"Oh for crying out loud!" He reached out before Lady could react and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her forward with a little too much force. "It's important!"

Lady frowned as she was pulled into Dante. His touch was _way_ too cold and the strength he used seemed to be too much. He never acted like this. And, as she noticed while being up close, he didn't even smell like pizza!

Lady's suspicions: three. Freaky Dante thing trying to outsmart her: zero.

_Dumbass_, she sneered to herself. _Just how stupid do you think I am? I'm not a freakin' idiot! Obviously, you think otherwise. _She scowled as Dante pulled her upright. That thing was really pushing the wrong buttons.

_Ten seconds until self destruct..._

"Jeeze, Lady, I expected you to at least be stronger than that!" He scolded.

_Nine seconds..._

Dante turned and began to walk away, pulling her along. Her anger boiled when she tripped and ran right into him.

_Eight seconds..._

"Hurry up you klutz, he'll find us if we're not quick enough!"

_Seven seconds..._

Lady's breath hitched in her throat as she was tugged along. Dante made a few more cocky remarks.

_Six seconds..._

Her prized gun fell out of it's holster. Lady went to grab it but Dante tugged on her wrist again, making the handy weapon completely out of reach.

_Five seconds..._

Lady pulled on her wrist that was being held captive and failed to pry it away from his grasp. Dante smirked and strengthened the hold he had on her wrist, nearly cutting off the circulation in it.

_Four seconds..._

The hallway they had walked down came to a dead end. Dante took a few steps backwards, looking up at a balcony that lingered above and took a few steps backwards, accidentally stepping on her feet. More anger erupted.

_Three seconds..._

"Oh, sorry big foot. Try to wear smaller boots next time and I might not step on you again."

_Two seconds..._

Dante looked up, smiling in an evil manner towards Lady. She looked at the balcony above and them and immediately shot Dante a death glare. She didn't want to go up.

_One second..._

Lady was forcefully shot upwards, Dante continuing to hold tightly onto her wrist. When they landed Lady's anger had boiled over. The world was about to explode and a one Dante mimic was about to suffer from her wrath.

She ripped her wrist away from the demon in disguise and clamped a hand onto one of his cold shoulders.

"Listen, _Dante_, don't you _ever_ do that again!"

Oh boy, was he ever going to be sorry once she was through with him...

* * *

He hurt everywhere. Every inch of his body felt like it was covered in an unnecessary amount of bruises and welts. He never knew women mortals could be so... brutal.

Placing a gloved hand over his face, careful not to touch any of his weeping skin, he wished to himself that Lady hadn't taken her anger out on him. He felt like one big blistering boil.

Lady smirked as Dante tenderly prodded a rather large black eye and felt like laughing when he grimaced in pain. It looked like she still possessed enough power to give one big jerk one good beating. Besides, he deserved it.

Dante groaned. He hadn't felt so beat up before. He decided immediately that he didn't like feeling horribly fatigued and women, both mortal and immortal, could pack a punch if angered enough. He hoped that he never pissed off another of their kind ever again.

Turning to face Lady, whom was currently trying hard not to laugh even though her shoulders were shaking pretty badly, Dante scowled as he tried to suppress a disgusted expression from appearing on his face. How dare she laugh at him!

Lady continued to hide her ever growing laughter, laughter that_ mocked_ him. Dante presented her with a fake Dante smirk and thought darkly to himself, picturing how he would have a turn to mock _her._

_You'll be laughing alright,_ he scowled sarcastically. _I can't wait until it's my turn to laugh. You won't have long to live after that anyways so I suppose it doesn't matter._

"So what has you thinking so darkly, _partner_?"

His eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to speak those words that were hanging from the edge of his tongue but gained control over himself. Now was _not_ the time to go and spoil things. He let another one of Lady's cocky questions slide and quickly faced the way they had been headed for earlier.

"We should have left this area already," he muttered. "Now let's go before it's too late!"

Lady stared blankly, hey eyes completely vacant. Dante was really trying her patience for his behavior lately. Hadn't he learned not to get her angry and force her to do what he wanted? _But this will give me a chance to see through this creep's disguise. Let's see if he breaks or not._

She was going to have some fun with this phony.

Dante turned to drag her in his general direction but stopped upon remembering a certain incident that had started off with a well aimed punch to his face.

"Hold your horses, I'm coming, I'm coming."

Lady gave the floor under them a longing glance. She would have to make it through this fun house without her gun. The female demon hunter smirked to herself as she followed Dante from behind. It was fine with her, she _always_ carried an extra gun and that creep didn't even know she had it. Excellent.

Lady found herself being led down an eerily lit hallway with Dante in the lead. The walls were made of charcoal-black bricks and every ten feet black metal torches hung from the walls. Each torch was accompanied with a brilliant blue flame, creating an almost magical glow all the while stirring up a feeling of uneasiness within Lady. Creepy castle hallways did not bode too well with her, not at all.

"So where exactly down this freakish place is this thing you want me to see oh so badly?"

"Just a little further down here," Dante motioned into the darkened corridor with his right index finger. "We should be there soon."

Dante maintained a well kept, almost lazy pace as he neared the 'thing' he wanted Lady to see 'oh so badly'. A familiar space between the torches to his right was coming up fast. That was where that Sparda scum was being held. He stopped abruptly, startling Lady who looked ready for the worst and pointed behind her.

"Shit! Look out Lady! There's something behind you!"

The stubborn woman warily turned around, half expecting something to actually being there and half _knowing_ that Dante was trying to pull something.

Dante smirked and flattened himself between the gap in the torches. He was about to merge with the wall and check in on his captive when the mass of charcoal-black bricks rattled and seconds later, exploded into an array of debris.

Dante went flying into the wall opposite of the one he had been trying to pass through. Bricks crumbled and multiple torches were blown out from the impact. A large cloud of black dust arose and by the time it cleared, Dante was face to face with the _real_ demon hunter, the _real_ pizza lover, the _real _Dante.

Damn that fool! All of his plans were ruined! The imposter froze as something crossed his mind. _The girl! I have to take the girl! My plans cannot be complete without her!_

Getting up at a much faster pace than Dante anticipated, the phony demon burst through the lingering dust and made a grab for a very cross Lady. Much to his dismay, things didn't go as planned.

Dante stood in front of Lady, Ebony and Ivory both withdrawn. The barrels of his prized guns dug painfully into the bruised face of the demon who had discovered that his actions had not been fast enough.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, _pal_?" Dante grit out between clenched teeth. "You've got _a lot_ of explaining to do!"

The demon winced and went to withdraw Dante's stolen sword, Rebellion. Hell, his plans were screwed now, but he wasn't going down without a fight!


	9. Fight Baby, Fight!

Author Nonsense:  I've stopped writing for quite some time, it seems. I was concentrating on finishing high school for the most part, and I am now enrolled in a Photography program, so there will be much work ahead of me. Anyway, here's a chapter that's taken forever to actually write. Enjoy.

* * *

**A Devil's Instinct**

**Fight Baby, Fight**

* * *

They rushed each other, weapons drawn, both intending to inflict some major damage. Dante's stollen sword collided with Ebony and Ivory, showering the ground with sparks as metal hit metal. There was a power struggle as each fought to overpower the other. One mistake, one false move, and there would definitely be a winner while the other passed on to a different world.

"You're ruining my plans!" Wailed the fake Dante as his muscles struggled to add any extra force to the hilt of the sword. His body was on fire, especially after having taken a beating from Lady.

Dante smirked, pushing closer to the demon in front of him. Ebony and Ivory were no sword, but they could, without a doubt, withstand any amount of pressure applied to them. The only thing he needed was to position his opponent a little more to the left and then all he would have left to do was pull the trigger, creating a distraction so he could easily retrieve his precious sword.

The demon's footing began to falter. Dante picked up on this and gave one quick push forwards, thrusting all of his strength into it. The demon stumbled back and for one moment, lost all hold on Rebellion.

Dante quickly put his guns back in their rightful places and felt a familiar surge of energy ripple through him as Rebellion fell into his hands.

"Got ya!" He said, waving the sword around as if to show the demon the fight was over, even if no one had taken any real damage.

"Oh give it up!" The demon screeched, "You haven't won yet! My plans will go along smoothly!"

Weaponless, the demon jumped several feet away from his opponent. He placed one hand on the ground while the other was pointed out behind him. Dante and Lady watched as a blue orb started to form slightly above the hand jutting out from behind the demon. It grew in seconds, taking on the shape of a silver katana, detailed with gold and several diamonds.

The katana was longer than most, shining dangerously in the dim light. The edge of the blade, capable of cutting through almost everything, looked incredibly lethal. Dante eyed up the weapon, looking for any weakness it may hold.

He found nothing.

"Dante, let's get out of--"

The demon rushed forward, ignoring Dante, and headed for Lady with his weapon drawn. He wanted to make the stubborn woman pay for making his body feel so sore. And besides, maybe this would get Dante to fight a little better.

Only a few feet away from Lady, the demon held the sword over his head, prepared to take Lady's skull with him. Before he could cover the short distance, he suddenly fell to the ground, tasting the cold cement floor.

Dante laughed, pulling his leg back to his side. The demon had been so focused on killing Lady that he failed to notice Dante's leg sticking out in his path, making for a very humourous trip.

The demon scowled and was up in mere seconds. Dante stood between him and his target, unmoving. There was no way this was going to end without any blood being shed.

"Bring it on," Dante teased, holding Rebellion in front of him, challenging the demon.

Lady watched, thinking only moments ago that she was going to die, as Dante and his opponent fought throughout the hallway, their swords colliding violently.

The demon winced as Rebellion sliced cleanly through his upper right arm. The bruising he had taken from Lady and his new injury were starting to slow him down. Preparing himself for another strike, the demon held out his prized sword as Dante charged forward.

Dante jumped in the air, aiming for a brutal strike to the demon, when suddenly his opponent shot upward as well. They collided in mid-air, sword against sword. The katana, which was much smaller than Rebellion, quickly shot off to the side, striking Dante in the shoulder.

Dante bit his lip, drawing blood, and landed roughly. He heard Lady mumble something about the blood that was draining from his shoulder, but he paid no attention. Pulling together his strenght, the demon hunter faced his opponent with that same cocky smirk that he let show whenever a challenge was at hand.

"Is that the best you've got?" Dante taunted.

The demon raced for his opponent without saying a word. Just inches away from Dante, he swiched his course and jumped in the air. Aiming his katana, the demon threw it at Dante with as much force as he could possibly handle.

The katana missed Dante; however, it caught his prized coat. Unable to move, the demon hunter found himself pinned to the ground as his enemy advanced with blood lust dancing in his dark eyes.

"Foolish, foolish _prick,_" the demon hissed, advancing closer.

Dante and Lady watched as his form went from looking exactly like the demon hunter to a creature sporting foot-long claws and teeth just as sharp that jutted almost painfully out of his mouth. A wicked smile appeared as the demon's eyes began to glow.

He would end this.

"You're _mine, Dante!_"

Claws stretched out like jagged knives, the demon lunged at Dante, but suddenly halted as several bullets ripped through his body. Turning to the side as the taste of blood became extremely evident in his mouth, the demon saw Lady standing in front of Dante with one of her secret guns aimed right at him.

"Make one more move and you're going to wish you never, _ever_ decided to mess with us!"

"Just because you have a gun doesn't mean I can't hurt you," the demon sneered, wincing as his fresh wounds sent incredible amounts of pain coursing through his body.

Lady took a step forward, her stance an indication that she would fire without any hesitation. Her eyes were trained on the demon, making sure that he made no funny moves. She waited until Dante managed to free himself of the katana, then stepped back as the two opponents faced each other yet again.

Within seconds the demon retrieved his weapon and wasted no time in trying to attack Dante. The two opponents went flying up and down the hall, swords colliding. Sparks flew everywhere, even a few managed to land on Lady. She grumbled and made sure her clothes didn't start on fire.

After a good ten minutes of non-stop fighting, the demon showed signs of defeat. He fell to the ground, trying to hold himself up as he panted heavily. Dante landed gracefully several feet away and watched as the demon coughed up blood. Smirking, he turned away.

"This guy is toast," he shouted to Lady, who was looking bored and out of place.

Dante could hear the demon trying to get up and immediately shot toward him, going for an ending blow; however, the demon jumped in the air, and threw his katana again. It skinned the side of Dante's face, making a small mark, but just enough to inflict a small amount of pain.

"That's it, buddy! I've had enough of you!" Dante roared.

With Rebellion held before him, Dante rushed onward. The demon had no amount of time to reach his weapon and stared in shock as his enemy came dangerously close.

"Nice try," he seethed.

A smirk appeared, confusing the demon hunter as he was about to strike his target. The demon jumped, as Dante had predicted, but landed in a completely different spot.

"Come any closer and I'll slit her throat," the demon warned as he knocked Lady's weapon out of her grasp and held her back with extreme force.

"You cheap demon!" Lady yelled as she struggled to break free.

Dante froze, carefully calculating the current situation he was stuck in. He knew that Lady would be able to break free, but she'd have to make a miracle for that to happen. The demon's claws could pierce through anything.

Lady, smothered by the demon's foul smelling body, found one of the wounds she had inflicted herself, and shoved her hand through an already bleeding bullet wound. The demon let go and wailed in agony, his claws flying around in several directions. Lady managed to dodge the dangerous weapons and looked around for any escape route she could find.

"Run Lady!" Dante yelled as he brought out Ebony and Ivory.

Without even a glance backwards, Lady took off into the dark hallway with the demon hot on her trail.


	10. Treasured Blood

**Author Note: ** A big thanks to 666BloodyHell666 and RikkuDevil for being the only reviewers for the last chapter that was updated. Thanks for your support.

* * *

**A Devil's Instinct**

**Treasured Blood**

* * *

Had Lady known that the place was almost impossible to get out of without any means of superhuman strength, she never would have ran away. She tried to head in a straight direction and to avoid turning down any side hallways, but by now she had no other choice.

The darkness that loomed inside the building was getting thicker, heavier, as if it was trying to drown her within its grasp. The blue-flamed torches were long gone, having disappeared where Dante and the demon had been dueling. Though their light was hard on the eyes, Lady greatly wished she had even one of the torches right now, anything to give her some clue as to where she was headed.

Water dripped from the ceiling, landing in small puddles below. The noises bounced off the walls of the tight hallway Lady was currently walking blindly through, only aiding in making her feel all the more helpless. She stayed close to the charred black walls, talking cautious steps. To run into anything in this darkness would be fatal.

It was impossible to know how the fight between Dante and the demon turned out. At the start of her run she was able to hear them, but now there was nothing but dead silence. As she continued to blindly walk down the winding hallway, she came upon an empty space. Fumbling, Lady decided to stick to the wall and began her journey down yet another hall she had not intended on walking through.

"This is hopeless," she said through clenched teeth.

Her voice echoed loudly throughout the hall, making her cringe. Anything could have heard that, giving away her position. She had no idea where that pathetic demon was right now, but if he was close by she was doomed.

_Dante better have destroyed that freak,_ Lady thought. _I can't even see where I'm going. This is so _frustrating!

_Splash!_

Something landed in one of the puddles created from the leaking ceiling. Lady automatically froze, her hand barely touching the wall, her legs burning to move, to run away as fast as possible. She listened intently for any form of movement.

There was nothing.

Something cold brushed over her shoulder. Lady spun around, prepared to strike whatever it was that was playing games with her. When there were no other movements, no attack towards her, Lady turned slowly back around.

Then, surprising Lady tremendously, an ice-cold hand clasped over her throat. She struggled to break free, kicking her legs as hard as she could toward her attacker, but to no avail. She could feel the air being choked from her lungs as she helplessly lashed out, hoping that she'd be able to get the bastard whom was so intent on ending her life.

Straining with all her might, Lady took her last few breaths before slipping into a dark place, even darker than the one she was currently in...

* * *

She could hear soft movements from all around as she slowly regained consciousness. Fluttering her eyes open, Lady could faintly make out the dim ceiling above her through thick eye lashes. There were strange patterns on the ancient roof, some of which appeared to be paintings that had faded with time. There was a scene with a bloody angel fighting hordes of demons, all of which were armed to the bone with razor sharp weapons. It was beautifully drawn, but disturbing in nature.

Lady took her eyes off the morbid paintings above and decided to see if she was able to move. Instead of feeling her normal clothes move with her body, she felt a silk-like fabric instead. Pushing herself up enough to see what she had been clad in, Lady was in awe at the silk dress that now fit her body almost perfectly.

Black silk covered her from her feet up to her shoulders. A thick lace skirt jutted out from the bottom while very fine and detailed beadwork was woven into it. There was gold sewn into the dress everywhere. Starting from the lace skirt, it wove up and around her figure like a golden breeze with spots of crimson red here and there. Finally, where the beautiful fabric ended, it was bordered with black lace and beading, just like the skirt.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Lady turned sharply to the side, facing her attacker. It came to no surprise to the demon hunter that Dante's opponent stared at her with his vivid red eyes.

A smirk crossed his darkened features. Wounded, he had managed to find his prey wandering around pathetically. Humans were so weak and useless. This one, on the other hand, had a purpose to fulfill, and that was to take place in a very short amount of time.

Lady scowled, her eyebrows knitting close together in anger. The dress no longer felt smooth against her skin but ugly and disgusting. She wanted out of it and if that wasn't going to happen, there would be hell to pay.

"Listen up," Lady spat. "You let me out of this thing _right now!_"

"I'm so, so sorry, but that cannot be done. You see," the demon said, stepping aside to show Lady a strange contraption he had been working on before she woke up, "That dress is a very special piece for what I have in store for you."

"And what would _that_ be?

The demon eyed his invention as if it meant the world to him.

It was shaped like an over-sized needle with strange designs carved delicately into it. Gears were on the sides, but Lady knew not of what they were for. They hung off the side of the invention as if they were waiting to latch on to something.

Lady moved her hand from where it was on her makeshift bed and saw tracks for where the gears would be moving. That strange thing behind the demon was for her and Lady did not like that one bit.

"Oh, that is something special I've been working on for many years," the demon said, answering Lady's question. "You'll see what happens when I decide to get it working."

"Well I want to know _now!_"

"Patience, you pathetic creature!" The demon moved away from Lady and began to work on his invention some more. He purposely turned his back to Lady and went straight back to work.

"You better let me out of this place! When I get out of this _stupid_ dress I'm going to kick your ass!"

The demon continued to work away. Lady noticed that some of his movements were stressed, which told her that Dante had definitely got a few hits in before the demon ended up here.

Wait... Dante. What had happened to Dante? Why was the demon here, but Dante was nowhere to be found? Had he lost the trail of the demon or had something else happened...?

"Hey!" Lady yelled, startling the demon.

She tried to stand up, to give the demon a good beating, but it was then that she realized there was a thick cement brace across her waist that prevented any further movement.

"Where is Dante?" She demanded. "What the _hell_ did you do with Dante?"

She recieved no answer from her attacker. Instead, the demon continued to work on the strange object in front of him. Though it looked out of this world, it was simply meant to draw enough blood from Lady to open the portal to the demon world.

"You have no idea where you are, do you?" The demon asked, ignoring Lady's demanding questions.

"I'm in a portal to the demon world. You plan to use my blood to open it, yadda, yadda, yadda."

The demon was quite surprised. "How do you know this?"

Lady shifted herself as comfortably as she could so that her back was laying flat on the ground. "Let's just say that I've had my share of experiences."

"Well, that doesn't really matter now, does it?"

Lady glared at the ceiling while the demon went back to work. It was impossible to move against the cement brace that was binding her to the portal below, so the most activity she could do was to think.

Had Dante been killed in the fight? The demon didn't appear to be too injured so that was a possibility. But, knowing Dante, he could basically withstand anything, especially a worthless demon such as the one that was keeping her in such a morbid room.

"What the hell did you do with Dante?"

The demon remained silent until Lady began to thrash about. She kicked at the air and fought against the brace that was holding her down. The silk dress immediately became dirtied and creased, something that greatly upset the demon.

"What are you doing, woman?" He leaped from his position in front of the blood extraction device and was standing above Lady, a small handgun pointed at her as a warning.

"You can't possibly use that gun against me," Lady sneered, staring at the weapon the demon held. "That's my gun, you stole it from me."

"I don't care. Stop moving, you're ruining that dress!"

"Go ahead, shoot me."

"What? You don't want to go back to your precious half-breed?"

"Shoot me!"

The demon fumbled with the weapon, but decided he didn't even need the device he had been working on to draw enough blood for the portal. A bullet to any vital spot would work nicely.

"Okay, you asked for it!"

Lady smirked as the demon pulled the trigger. A loud shot echoed throughout the morbid room and a loud shriek as the gun backfired directly into the demon's face.

"_What the hell was that?_"

Lady laughed coldly. "What an idiot. That gun only works for me. If anyone else tries to use it, well, you know what happens."

"_You stupid bitch!_"

"Well, that's what you get for stealing. Learn some manners."

Satisfied, Lady watched the demon whirl about as blood oozed from his wounded face. At least the blood extraction could wait for a while.

Maybe Dante would have enough time to get here before she was no loner a part of this world...


End file.
